Background
Jose Anacleto Ramos was born on July 13, 1856, in Cavite, Philippines. He was the third kid among six children of Geronimo Ramos y Espinosa with his first wife, Agatona Enriquez.
Jose Ramos
España Blvd, Sampaloc, Manila, 1008 Metro Manila, Philippines
The University of Santo Tomas where Jose Ramos studied.
Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham TW1 4SX, United Kingdom
St Mary's University where Jose Ramos studied.
España Blvd, Sampaloc, Manila, 1008 Metro Manila, Philippines
The University of Santo Tomas where Jose Ramos studied.
Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham TW1 4SX, United Kingdom
St Mary's University where Jose Ramos studied.
Jose Anacleto Ramos was born on July 13, 1856, in Cavite, Philippines. He was the third kid among six children of Geronimo Ramos y Espinosa with his first wife, Agatona Enriquez.
Jose Ramos was given a good education. He learned his first letters at home, in Binondo, his father having hired a private tutor. At seven he entered the Escuela Municipal de Niños, where he also began secondary education in 1863, after which he pursued a commercial course until 1873. He took a course in English at the University of Santo Tomas while working in the banking house of J. M. Tuason & Co., where his father was a cashier.
In 1877 he was sent to study in London where he enrolled in St Mary's College (now St Mary's University, Twickenham). He took a business course and learned English. His trustee was Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor y Jurado, propagandist, then a practicing attorney in that city. Later he took courses in engraving and printing in a school of arts and trades in South Kensington until the middle of 1882.
After studies, Jose Ramos went back to the Philippines. It appears that in his absence his father established a bazar called "La Gran Bretaña" on Calle Real at the corner of San Juan Dios Street, in Intramuros, for an advertisement in the Diario de Manila on December 22, 1881, carried the announcement that the store deals in sewing machines, outfits for tailors, shoemakers, harness manufacturers and barbers, stationery, piano, etc. It was this bazar which received the attention of Ramos upon his arrival in Manila. After a year or so, in 1883, he again went to London, this time on a business trip.
Upon his return, he brought with him steam engines, motors, machinery for the sugarcane, tobacco and other industries, equipment for a hat, shoe, and carriage manufacturers, besides a printing press. Then he established commercial connections in Europe and America, becoming a direct importer and agent for manufacturing firms in London, Sheffield, Birmingham, and cities in Belgium and the United States. After his return, he established a printing press which he named "La Ymprenta Nueva" and which was soon to play an important role in the propaganda movement.
His business venture must have flourished in time if this might be inferred from the fact that he was made an accredited member of the Camara de Comercio de Manila. However, his business activity was but one phase of his life that covered up the other - his secret political agitation. Although there is nothing said about the influence of Regidor in his Memoirs, there was much to expect from that direction because of his previous contacts. After making many friends, sizing up their creeds, and knowing who could be trusted, his establishment became one of the meeting places of agitators like himself. He wrote and printed anonymous sheets, leaflets, and broadsides called papeles volantes calculated to arouse antagonism against the religious orders, criticizing or exposing their practices, fanaticism, or reactionary thinking and activity. Such were the sheets Los Frailes en Filipinas and Alerta Paisanos Alerta.
Henceforth his bazar became one of the distributing centers of propaganda literature. A surviving member of the Katipunan, Agapito Pista, cousin of Teodoro Plata, recounted that he used to secure such literature as Hibik ng Pilipinas, Hanggang Kailan Pa, and Bayang Taga-ilog from Ramos for distribution. Rizal's works were also among those clandestinely introduced to avid readers from "La Gran Bretaña", among other centers. Secret meetings were held among the educated and upper class of Filipinos at first but soon other lower-class citizens were admitted.
Ramos stated in his Memoirs that he was largely responsible for the discovery of fabricated literature concocted against the government and the church, printed and scattered about to convince authorities of the existence of a separatist movement in the Islands and so warranted the necessity for the adoption of stern measures against the liberals and agitators. The distribution of anti-friar writing, therefore, became almost a regular activity, on Saturdays these sheets were distributed on the streets of the city and vicinity, introduced in mezzanines where students boarded, left at the doors of houses, and even brought inside the premises of churches.
Another phase of his propaganda work was connected with the founding of masonry in Manila. For it was thought that it was high time that a separate organization manned by native minds existed apart from those formed by peninsular Spaniards. While Ramos was a student in London, he was initiated into masonry through the invitation of Regidor. This occurred on August 1, 1882, in the Corinthian Lodge No. 1382 of the Grande Oriente Unido de Inglaterra. And so upon his arrival in Manila, on the invitation of Spanish freemasons, he affiliated in 1882 with the Spanish Lodge "Luz de Oriente", one of the first lodges established in the Philippines, under the jurisdiction of the Grande Oriente Español. He was a venerable master and treasurer from 1884 to 1890.
Upon the arrival of Pedro Serrano Laktaw who was initiated in Manila in August 1890, Ramos worked with the former and Moises Salvador who was also recently accepted in Madrid in the organization of the first purely Filipino lodge, the "Nilad", which was formally constituted on January 6, 1891. This lodge, of which Ramos was its first venerable master, came to be regarded as the mother lodge of masonic branches in the Islands. He adopted the masonic name "Socorro." On April 27, 1892, he was elevated to the grade of Caballero Rosa Cruz, and three months later, July 15, as Principe del Tabernaculo. As the propaganda was the chief work of masons and political agitators during this period, his exceptional circumstances provided the necessary power for him to exercise a decided influence. He also came into contact and established ties with Spanish masons who were suitably placed in government positions to lend him support.
The anti-frair movement reached a climax in the popular demonstration of March 1, 1888, when municipal governors, chiefs of barangays, native officials and other citizens of Manila and suburbs gathered together, paraded the streets of Manila and presented a petition signed by about eight hundred Filipinos from all walks of life and occupations to the authorities of the city demanding the expulsion of the friars and religious orders from the Islands. The true leaders of this movement have not been definitely identified.
W. E. Retana doubted the capacity of Doroteo Jose Paras who owned the responsibility and ascribed the paternity of the petition to Doroteo Cortes and never for a moment thought of other leaders. But Dr. Ramon Papa identified Ramos and Cortes as being the leaders of that anti-friar demonstration, although Marcelo H. del Pilar must have been behind it too. Papa's view is confirmed by Isabelo de los Reyes who was an eyewitness to the events. It was a bold step taken by the Filipino propagandists and leaders, but they knew when to act and take advantage of the situation, for at this time the civil authorities were at loggerheads with the religious, and the Governor and Captain-General and the Civil Governor of Manila, Centeno, were known to be receptive to such manifestation of popular feeling.
Ramos was able thus far to submerge his identity or took precautions not to be identified openly with the political situation, an astute but sensible appearance which enabled him to play a more effective role and be of greater service to the cause of the propaganda.
Although he must have been a suspect, he enjoyed prestige, had political and social connections, and he knew how to make use of his associations, so that when the authorities of Manila would not allow Marcelo H. del Pilar to leave the country without the necessary clearance papers of good conduct, about the end of 1888, Ramos acted as a guarantor in the latter's behalf, and his word was without much hesitation honored. But before del Pilar left, Ramos had pledged himself to work for La Propaganda, a small organization which del Pilar and Mariano Ponce had formed as a working group to support the work of the propagandists abroad. On more than one occasion, he was very useful. When father, brother, and brother-in-law were in imminent danger of being arrested and imprisoned on account of the land trouble in Calamba, due to the timely intervention of Ramos they were secretly absconded and safely boarded in a ship for a foreign port. And then again upon the deportation of Rizal on July 7, 1892, he initiated a move to collect contributions to assist Rizal's family.
He had to come out into the open sometimes, for he felt the protective support of a circle of progressive Spaniards and he wanted to make sure that he had that protection and to make his fellowmen feel that he had that backing. He used devious means to gain his objective. He knew that the press was an effective agency for any propaganda work. So he joined the staff, as a manager, of El Resumen, a daily with nationalist tendencies founded by Pascual H. Poblete and Don Baldomero Hazañas. After El Resumen ceased publication, together with a Republican Spaniard, the daily El Amigo del Pueblo was published on July 1, 1893. Although this belonged to a humouristic class of periodicals, it was only in later times that the astute and ever-keen W. E. Retana became fully aware of this being a political organ of the propaganda movement in Manila calling it Le Petit Marat. Ramos in his Memoirs narrated that undesirable parts of articles were severely suppressed by the censor, D. Antonio Santisteban, but the paper had to be printed anyway with the proper space provided for the omitted part and in its place, a black cross was substituted.
This insidious device caused readers to come to the editorial office and inquired about the meaning of the signs and spaces. Thus many readers learned ultimately the censored parts. Another reason for his prestige was his knowledge of English. He translated English press dispatches into Spanish for La Oceania Española, leading daily of the times, and thus fortified his social and political position thereby.
W. E. Retana, the versatile Spanish writer who worked for the religious orders and the cause of the counter-propaganda at this period, called Ramos a separatist. He characterized him as a "very cautious" agitator but dubbed him at the same time as a "fervent annexationist to Japan, and in another place, he was described as a "man of strong character, sagacious and an indefatigable propagandist". His annexationist leaning is exaggerated. To many propaganda workers at this time, that is after the founding of the Katipunan, the idea dawned upon them that only a revolution could bring about the desired change in the state of affairs. To effectuate this idea foreign assistance was the only solution that presented itself clear to the leaders, and there was no country better prepared to give that assistance in the minds of many except Japan. To which line of action Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Doroteo Cortes and others subscribed.
By 1894 La Propaganda was reorganized into the Junta de Compromisarios making it a more effective agency for the collection of funds for the cause and in this group, Doroteo Cortes, Modesto Español, and Ramos were the active workers. Although the Junta, the Liga Filipina, and the Katipunan were separate organizations, many were members of all three groups. Many leaders soon became convinced of the necessity of taking positive action on the matter of securing foreign assistance and the acquisition of arms, so that a group composed of Doroteo Cortes, Modesto Español and Ramos were commissioned to execute the decision.
But before this group could carry out its mission, after long years of espionage work, the Spanish authorities finally became convinced that Ramos was one of the leading minds of the propaganda movement in Manila and therefore he had to be seized. Learning of such a preparation, he buried his papers, seals, arms and other implicating documents under the ground, and secretly boarded a ship one night, leaving his bazar, press, and house and everything to the charge of Pedro Casimiro and Gonzalo Guazon, a brother-in-law. This happened in the middle of 1895. A flylet written by Ramos and sometimes ascribed to Rizal ended his activities in Manila.
After his dramatic escape, his administrator Casimiro was put into prison and his brother-in-law Guazon was banished to Fernando Po, and his properties seized and confiscated. The captain of the ship, a friend, placed Ramos in a large drawer with but a key-hole for him to breathe through. Receiving information on steps being taken for his extradition, he left Hong Kong on the SS. Verona for Yokohama under an assumed name, James A. Robertson.
In Yokohama he was nearly taken by a force of Spanish agents, foreign rights still then in vigor in that country. His properties confiscated and his trustees imprisoned and banished, no support came from Manila. His money soon dwindled and he lived in penury and want. There were days when there was not a single meal to stave off his hunger save the frogs he could catch and roast for himself. This condition of living lasted the Japanese government offered him financial assistance.
Then came the орроrtunity of carrying out the idea of enlisting Japanese support. In time he gained the recognition of Japanese officials of rank and he must have been looking forward to the time when his mission could be accomplished. Now two prospects dawned upon him: national independence with the assistance of Japan, or a political status similar to that of Korea. With this end in view, he planned together with Isabelo Artacho. It was agreed to have Artacho go back to the Islands to find or locate areas where the Japanese military could be disembarked in the guise of farmers or laborers. The untimely discovery of the Katipunan in Manila, however, frustrated this plan.
After the signing of the Pact of Biyak-na-bato ending the first phase of the Revolution, upon hearing of Aguinaldo's arrival in Hong Kong, he attempted to communicate with him suggesting to him to come to Japan. In later life, Ramos regretted very much that Aguinaldo did not fulfill his promise. He sold his coat in order to send that telegram. He helped Jose Alejandrino, when the latter was sent to Yokohama, select rifles for the rearmament of the Filipino forces. Later when Mariano Ponce came to Japan as the diplomatic representative of the Revolutionary Government, Ramos then being better known to the Japanese officials, he introduced him to the proper authorities. He worked with Ponce in the latter's mission for a while.
His name now and then being mentioned in Ponce's correspondence. Ponce seemed to have his own reasons to be suspicious of Ramos's doings, the latter having become a naturalized Japanese in recognition of his gratefulness to the government which had given him support and protection. And this was manifest even in the addition of a Japanese name, Ishikawa, to his family name. This suspicion seemed to have clung to the minds of the Revolutionary leaders, and he was never accorded their confidence even after his return to the Islands, a feeling of distrust continued until 1916 when he was treated like a spy and placed under all sorts of surveillance and vexations by government agents.
In 1900 he decided to return to Manila. He established a poultry farm on Solis Street, in Gagalangin, Tondo. It was a successful enterprise until it got burned just after the Philippine Carnival of 1915 was ended. His neighbors did not come to his aid in putting out the fire, a fact which hurt him deeply as this was contrary to traditional folkways. This apathy being ascribed to his having taken an apparent deprecating attitude of Filipino customs, having himself posed as a good Japanese wearing Japanese shoes and kimonos.
Then he established a hat store together with some friends in Caloocan, Rizal, but this again was burned. Because of his know knowledge of poultry raising and horticulture learned in Japan, he was employed as a temporary assistant poultryman in the Bureau of Agriculture at one hundred pesos a month. He was assigned to the Alabang Stock Farm for over a year, from December 4, 1916, to December 31, 1917. Subsequently, he was employed by Segundino Mendizona in the latter's hacienda in Mapuyo, Kawayan, off the Island of Biliran, Leyte, as administrator. But ill fortune seemed to have followed him through. He was not well treated and the owner did not fulfill his part of the contract.
In Mapuyo while writing his Memoirs he was taken ill with complicating maladies. He was brought to Manila, through the assistance of Dr. Tomas Gomez, for he was penniless, and before he died asked his daughter, Josefina, to read that part of Philippine history dealing on the Revolution. The account was meager and tears fell from his eyes. Father and daughter sang the National Hymn before he was brought to the Mary Chiles Hospital, where he expired not many days later.
Jose Ramos was a Filipino prominent figure in the commercial industry and was accredited by the Camara de Comercio de Manila. His trade activities shielded his secret political activities. Occasionally, his shop became a meeting place for political activists. He was also known as one who wrote and printed anonymous sheets and leaflets that were aimed to arouse dislike against the Spanish friars. Examples of these are the Los Frailes en Filipinas and Alerta Paisanos Alerta. His bazaar became a distributing center of Jose Rizal's works and other propagandist literature. So he is remembered as a true Filipino patriot.
In 1921 through the initiative of Dr. Ramon Papa, then president of the Municipal Board of Manila, a small plaza in Pandakan was named after him.
Physical Characteristics: In life, Ramos always wore a mustache in the style of M. H. del Pilar. He was stout in build and stood above the average Filipino height.
Some sources claimed, that Jose Ramos was first married to a Filipino woman, although he did not mention this fact in his Memoirs. His marriage to an English woman, Agnes Eugene Gastrell, who died before he left for Japan, produced two children. In Japan, he married Aki Arai, on March 5, 1905. In this marriage, the following children were born: Josefina, Jose Anacleto, Jr., Flora and Bonifacio.
